CVS This Week

I've got to admit I've been having a little fun at CVS this week. I've been able to stretch $6 quite a long way :)

From last week I had $8 in Extra Care Bucks that I brought into this week.

Trip #1:

6 Jars of Ragu Pasta Sauce
- regular price: $2.67/each
- sale price: 3/$5.00
- used 2 $1.25 coupons from RP 5/22
- earned $3.00 in ECB's

Revlon Nail Polish
- regular price: $5.79
- sale price: $4.99
- used $2.00/1 coupon from S 5/8
- earned $4.00 in ECB's

Total OOP for trip #1: $2.84
Used: $8.00 in ECB's
Total saved: $19.31
And earned: $7.00 in ECB's

Trip #2

Revlon Nail Polish
- regular price: $5.79
- sale price: $4.99
- used $1.00/1 coupon from S 4/10
- earned $4.00 in ECB's

Stride Gum
- regular price: $1.67
- sale price: $0.99
- bought two and used $1.00/2 coupon from S 4/3
- earned $0.99 in ECB's

Total OOP for trip #2: $2.27
Used: $3.00 in ECB's
Total saved: $7.16
And earned: $4.99 in ECB's

(I will say I wanted to buy more nail polish in this trip and use all my ECB's from the previous trip along with 3 $2.00 off coupons as I did in my previous trip but the cashier said the computer wouldn't take them so I used the $1.00 off coupon instead but I only had 1 on me - of course, the computer beeped on that one too but she overrode it - go figure...)

Trip #3

Irish Spring Body Wash/Deodarant
- regular price: $4.19 to $4.99
- sale price: $3.50
- no coupon
- earned: $5.00 in ECB's

Hello Kitty Band-Aids
- regular price: $3.99
- sale price: $2.99
- no coupon
- earned: $1.00 in ECB's

Total OOP: $1.50
Used: $8.99 in ECB's
Total saved: $12.17
And earned: $6.00 in ECB's

My total OOP for the week: $6.61 for 6 jars of pasta sauce, 2 bottles of nail polish, 2 packs of gum, 1 body wash, 1 deodarant and 1 pack of band-aids
My total saved: $38.64!!
And I still have $6.00 in ECB's so ultimately it all cost me $0.61 :) You just can't beat that!

With the deal on nail polish I do plan to return again tomorrow - hard to pass up good free nail polish :) Plus there's a sale on some Suave products that the kids could use.

Menu Planning: Trip Planning

We're going camping this weekend. I'm using the term loosely since we're not going alone but with almost 30 other people so there's a huge amount of food coordination going on right now. That being said my lists and plans are a little off right now which is driving my brain crazy!

My menu plan for this week is small so I'm going to plan from now till the end of next week when we leave for another trip - I've got to plan to use the food I have in my freezer/pantry before I go - thanks for bearing with me today!

Monday: Chicken ‘n Peppers Pasta Skillet

Tuesday: Easy Pleasing Meatloaf with mashed potatoes (we're having the company we didn't have last week)

Wednesday: Burgers ‘N Fries Pot Pie

Thursday: Slow Cooker Chicken and Noodles Alfredo

Friday through Monday: Camping

Tuesday: Easy Chicken Bake

Wednesday: Skillet Chicken Nachos

Thursday: Ham & Pasta Skillet

Friday: Turkey and Brocoli Casserole (using chicken)

Triple Coupons At Harris Teeter!!

It has been well over a year since Harris Teeter last ran triple coupons but this week they have brought them back! Triple coupons means that instead of your $0.50 coupon doubling to a dollar it actually triples to $1.50.

I did a quick run this morning and picked up a few things:



I spent: $15.95
And saved: $42.92

I have to admit I was hoping for a little better but even with coupons that triple some of the items were around $1.00 (such as the Goldfish - hard to believe those tiny bags which my kids can consume in about 30 seconds would sell for well over $2!! I paid $1.10 per bag and that was after a sale AND a triple coupon - yikes!)

I also had a raincheck for the broccoli as well as a coupon but didn't find out until I got to the register that even though the raincheck was for buy 1 get 1 free they ring up differently than normal. Instead of ringing them in half price they ring one up full price and one free so I had to buy 4 so instead of $0.70/each for 3 I paid $0.88/each for 4. Not huge but about $1.40 than I had hoped to pay.

Anyway, my best deals:

Mahatma Rice
- regular price: $1.59
- sale price: none
- used 6 $0.50/1 coupon from RP 5/1
- final price: $0.09 each!!

McCormick Seasoning/Grillmates
- regular price: $2.50/$2.99
- sale price: buy 1 get 1 free
- used 2 $0.75/1 coupon from RP 4/10
- final price: FREE

Betty Crocker Brownie Mix
- regular price: $2.79 each
- sale price: 2/$4.00
- used 2 $0.50/1 coupon from SS 5/1
- final price: $0.50/each

Egglands Best Eggs
- regular price: $3.29
- sale price: $2.50
- used $0.55/1 coupon from SS 5/1
- final price: $0.85

That's what I found on my first trip. Any good deals you found? For more coupon match-ups check out Southern Savers and have fun shopping!

Menu Planning: 5/16

The month is only half over yet I've hardly had any time to cook - with Mother's Day and our anniversary we've been out often. We've had some really good chicken recipes like Chicken Parmesan and Crispy Chicken Burrito Bundles but I haven't had much need for my monthly meal plan. So, since this week is a little less crazy than the past few I figured I'd share what we have planned though I can already see a few meetings putting hiccups in our plans.

But here it is nonetheless:

Monday: Beef and Bean Taco Casserole

Tuesday: Gram’s Chicken Pot Pie Updated

Wednesday: Tater Tot Casserole

Thursday: Ravioli Lasagna (this may turn into something else since we're supposed to have company as well as a school function but this is the plan...)

Friday: Leftovers or fast food - I'll be gone all day on a kids field trip to a theme park so I KNOW I will be in no mood for cooking - see what I mean about being crazy busy this month and with just 3 weeks left of school and a ton to do before then I'm beginning to feel overwhelmed!

Saturday: Chicken 'N Peppers Pasta Skillet - a super easy recipe for me to make for the kids since Kirk will be speaking that night to the school seniors at their class banquet (kind of like prom but it's a Christian school so there's no dancing)

Sunday: We have a birthday party and we'll be having dinner there

Organization 2011: Anniversary Gift

Kirk's gift to me was to take me for 2 days to Hershey, PA - out to dinner, a movie and Hershey Park theme park - it was great! But the best part was that he planned all the money in advance so I didn't have to stress over what it cost or what we were spending - how awesome is he?

In "return" I decided to use what small amount of organizational talent I have to rearrange his office.

Here's the before - his desk doesn't seem so bad



But the other side of his office tells a different story - somehow it's become our dumping ground for way too many things!!



And the sweet,sweet after - new chair and all:



(sorry it's not a better picture we're having a few camera issues...)

I actually organized the office on our anniversary (which was Tuesday) but have had to work the rest of the week sorting all the papers. I just didn't have enough time on Tuesday to get it all together. But that's the thing about organizing/cleaning - it doesn't all HAVE to be done in one day - by putting like with like to clean his office I was able to move everything out that didn't belong there and sort it later.

So, if you're wondering where to begin organizing pick a place you can do quickly and when done just looks good. Moving unwanted items out of Kirk's office made the space feel bigger and the house feel cleaner AND got me motivated to keep going. Of course doing it as a gift and buying a piece of new furniture helped too :)

Happy 15th anniversary to me! Oh, I mean my awesome husband, Kirk...

Happy Mother's Day!!

I hope you all had a wonderful day celebrating your Mother's or celebrating with your children and enjoying your own motherhood.

I got to spend the weekend away with my husband at Hershey Park, PA - lots of rides and lots of chocolate but no kids :) It was a nice break. I'd say that covers Mother's Day even though it was more for our 15th anniversary.

Now for Mother's Day I got a different sort of gift - my favorite kind:

Photos of my family!

My beautiful kiddos :)



The whole family - I think this is such a cool shot:



More of the family - seems like Rachel was not cooperating! Stinker...





My handsome boys...





And my beautiful girls...









I think these are my favorite - the individual shots of the kids - how cute are they?











And no photo shoot is complete without some good photos of me and my favorite guy!





A big thanks to Megan Keys from Keys Photography for the great shots! And of course, Happy Mother's Day to me :) I hope I can actually get some of these on my wall soon...

Menu Planning: New Month

Once again it's been a very busy week/weekend and another week has begun and I didn't get everything done I had hoped. Does this happen to everybody? To top it off Mother's Day is days away and my 15th anniversary is just days after that. Holidays and celebrations always mess up my menu plan as well as throw a curve in the list of things I need to get done on any given day.

Monday: Mac 'N Cheese Pie

Tuesday: Sassy Sloppy Joes

Wednesday: Chicken Broccoli Alfredo

Thursday: Moms of multiples meeting - I'm speaking on couponing so I have to be there but at least my meal will be covered :)

Friday: Mexican Shepherd's Pie

Saturday: Weeknight Lasagna Toss (or leftovers - I have a baby shower to go to so this one is up to Kirk!)

Sunday: Mother's Day - plans unknown!